LDN - Sports

Golf notebook: Pebble Beach attracts more major events

[October 30, 2017] By Tom LaMarre, The Sports Xchange

--The United States Golf Association announced that Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, Calif., will host the U.S. Open for the seventh time in 2027. It was announced a few years ago that the 2019 U.S. Open would be played in the famed course on the Monterey Peninsula.

In addition, it was announced that Pebble will be the site of the Women's U.S. Open for the first time in 2023.

"The USGA is committed to bringing our championships to golf's greatest venues, and the opportunity to have the best players in the world, female and male, compete at this iconic course will provide a fantastic showcase of the game," USGA president Diana Murphy said.

The U.S. Open will be played on several classic courses in the coming years, including Shinnecock Hills (2018 and 2026), Winged Foot (2020), Pinehurst No. 2 (2024) and Oakmont (2025).

Winners of the third major of the season at Pebble Beach include Jack Nicklaus in 1972, Tom Watson in 1982, Tom Kite in 1992, Tiger Woods in 2000 and Grahame McDowell of Northern Ireland in 2010.

--Emily Nash, a junior at Lunenburg High, finished four strokes ahead of the field in the Central Massachusetts Division 3 Boys' Golf Tournament at Blissful Meadows Golf Course in Uxbridge, Mass., but didn't go home with the trophy.

Because she is a girl.

Nash shot 3-over-par 75 while playing from the same tees as the boys, but MIAA rules prohibited her score from being included in the individual tournament, yet it still counted toward her team's total. Lunenburg finished fourth and did not qualify for the state tournament.

The MIAA regulations also cost Nash, who said she wasn't aware of the rules until after the event, a spot in the state tournament.

"We don't make the rules, we just enforce them," tournament director Kevin Riordan said. "(Emily) is the story of the day."

Nash, who finished fourth in the girls state tournament last spring, was offered the first-place trophy by Nico Ciolino of Advanced Math & Science Academy in Marlboro, who shot 79 and finished second to Nash, but she declined.

Lunenburg High he plans to buy Nash her own trophy.

--Jordan Spieth, the second-ranked golfer in the world, recently played a round of golf with former President Barack Obama and All-Star guard Stephen Curry of the NBA champion Golden State Warriors.

Curry and the Warriors were in town to play the Dallas Mavericks, while Obama was in the Lone Star State with Presidents George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton for an event to benefit victims of Hurricane Harvey.

Spieth later claimed in an appearance on the "Late, Late Show" that Obama tried to psyche him out. He said Obama told him that aliens exist, and as president he got to see them for himself.

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"He goes, 'They're freaking crazy looking,'" Spieth said. "And then he walks up, makes his putt, turns back, walks off the green, leaves it at that and gives me a wink."

Also in what turned out to be a sixsome were Curry's brother Seth, who plays for the Mavericks, Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank and Jonnie West, son of NBA legend Jerry West and a Warriors employee.

--The European Tour, which has made a commitment to end slow play, announced the addition of a new event on its 2018 schedule, the Shot Clock Masters, in which players will be timed on every shot.

The inaugural event will be played June 7-10 at Diamond Country Club in Atzenbrugg, Austria.

The first golfer in each group on every hole will have 50 seconds to plan and play his shot, while each subsequent player will receive 40 seconds.

"Not only will it help us combat slow play and reduce round times, it is also further evidence of our desire to embrace innovation," said Keith Pelley, chief executive of the European Tour.

"Not only will it help us combat slow play and reduce round times, it is also further evidence of our desire to embrace innovation. ... Faster, different, surprising and dramatic is where golf needs to head."

Large shot clocks will accompany each group. If a golfer fails to hit his shot in time, he will be charged a one-stroke penalty. Every player will have two chances per round to double his allotted time to accommodate more difficult shots.

Penalties for slow play have long been on the books on the major pro tours, though the rules are rarely enforced.

Top-ranked Dustin Johnson said he is in favor of a shot clock.

"Yeah, absolutely," Johnson said when asked if he would like to see shot clock on the PGA Tour. "I think it would be very interesting. You'd see a lot of guys getting penalties on our Tour.

"Yeah, that would be quite fun, actually. I'd have plenty of time, but there's a lot of guys that wouldn't. They would be getting a penalty on every hole."

The hope is that the time for a round will be reduced to between three and four hours, and three hours and 15 minutes for a twosome.

Rounds on the PGA Tour sometimes approach six hours.

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